


Before the Ink Machine

by obviouslyelementary



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gen, M/M, Monsters, Possession, Pre-Canon, Prequel, before game, theory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-10 08:10:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12295017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obviouslyelementary/pseuds/obviouslyelementary
Summary: This mixes my favorite characters and my theory of what happened and who is who in the game!





	1. Chapter 1

“Listen here, Joey, I can’t okay?! I just... I can’t deal with this routine anymore”

“What?! We have been doing this for six months! Henry, listen, I know you are working a lot now, but as soon as everything goes live and we receive our income, we will hire more and more artists and you will only tell them what to do!”

“Like you do to me now, Joey? No, I don’t want this. When we agreed to start this studio, we said we would work in teams. All you do is drink and daydream about stupid things. I made Bendy up, I created his crew, I drew them all for you! Alice, Boris, The Butcher Gang, all the rest of the special characters! But all you do is demand more and more and I don’t have time to myself! I barely see Linda anymore because you keep stealing my time with her and she is pregnant! I have to have income and all you worry about is doing more and more! We have been this six months giving and giving money and not receiving anything back!”

“Henry, our cartoons are just airing! The toys are already selling! We have a whole team working on that!”

“A team?! You mean Shawn messing up with the fucking toys and Norman taking more time in the breaking rooms than fixing the tapes! Besides, you hired yet another voice actress to Alice and yet her toys haven’t started selling! Your marketing is horrible and Grant can’t stop complaining about how little money we have left!”

“Y-you can’t give up now Henry! We are starting to take off! We must persist! We must b-”

“I swear... that if you say ‘believe’ I will rip your face off”

The two partners stayed quiet, staring at each other. Joey’s exasperated face slowly darkened. 

“Fine. Leave then. We don’t need you” he said, firmly, and Henry took a second before he nodded.

“Wonderful. Goodbye, Joey. Good luck” he mumbled and grabbed his already organized box. He walked out of his room, slowly, not looking back, stopping at the door as he opened it, all of his coworkers and employees standing in front of it.

“A-are you really leaving us, Henry?” Susie mumbled, shakily, and Henry looked at them all slowly, sighing and nodding.

“Yeah” he said and smiled sadly. “I will miss you guys. We all had a blast together. But I have to find a real job and have a nice family with Linda, yeah?” he talked and walked through the crowd before he stopped and turned to them. “And... if anyone of you even care at this point... take care of Joey please. Don’t let him ruin himself, or you”

The whole crew nodded.

Henry smiled and walked to the door, sighing and looking at the posters around the walls. At the last one, he touched Bendy’s face and smiled.

“I will never forget you buddy” he whispered, and then walked out of the door, out of the studio.

The light of day shone on him like a great relief.

Back inside the studio, Joey walked out of Henry’s room, his smile as wide as always, but clearly forced.

“So, what now boss?” Sammy asked, raising his eyebrow and crossing his arms. “Our last hope for this shitty studio to grow just left”

“Yes, and our debut Halloween special is just next week” Norman added, showing off the tape on his hand.

Joey laughed to them and winked.

“It will all be fine. Now we need to finish and wrap up everything for this special. All the drawings are done so let us continue everything and finish it by tomorrow! Susie, you come with me and Sammy to your next recordings. Norman, up to your booth. Grant, go check our bank for our top secret project. Wally... just keep cleaning I guess. Shawn, back to the toys. I want skeletons as soon as possible. Thomas, take care of those pipes” he said and nodded. “Everyone to your posts! We have no time to lose!”

“Yeah. We already lost anyway” Sammy mumbled and rolled his eyes, making Norman snort and turn around, walking away as the others scattered around the studio.

Joey watched all of them quietly, and then looked back at Henry’s room. He frowned and closed the door behind himself. One day, one day, Henry would regret leaving.

One day.

 

“Hey. Norman”

The projectionist looked over from his projector, raising his eyebrow at Sammy, who walked in slowly, slapping his suspenders against his chest.

“Yes, Sammy?” he asked slowly, leaning against the wall as the spooky cartoon was projected over the band booth. Sammy hummed and sat on Norman’s chair, watching him for a bit before tilting his head.

“Henry left a month ago”

Norman kept his face.

“Yes. So?”

“And the only cartoon we see showing around these halls is this spooky cartoon, even though Joey said we could easily continue our work with the drawings Henry had already done”

“Yes... what is your point?”

“My point” Sammy started, standing up and walking closer to Norman, cornering the taller man against the wall “is that Joey is extremely worried about this project of his, this top secret project, and he hasn’t started to take care of what is really important, our money”

Norman hummed.

“I see... go on”

“He is building another floor. One very, very deep. Rumors say it will have an elevator to reach it. It will be just under Shawn’s toy department” he said slowly, and Norman leaned closer, suddenly interested. “He is spending more and more money with this... upgrade... and we are buying it Norman! We have been locked in this place for what? Weeks? And he keeps saying that more will come, that this project will change everything... and yet we can’t know about it?”

“And there is also that new girl... Allison?” Norman continued, and Sammy nodded. “Weirds...”

“We keep hiring more and more people and we aren’t getting anything back. The man is insane. And yet... we stay. Why?” he asked, and Norman raised his eyebrow again. “I think he might have put a spell on us, Norm”

“Spell?” Norman chuckled. “Now you sounds insane”

“No. No I don’t. I can show you buddy, come on” he said, waving his hand and walking out of the booth. Norman frowned but soon followed, confused and slightly, just slightly scared.

They walked together through the several hallways of the music department, looking around and following a long way. After walking for a while, they reached a hallway blocked away with planks. From one small hole though, Sammy pointed to the room behind it.

Norman looked at him, and then leaned down, checking what laid behind the planks.

His eyes widened immediately and he pulled away, looking at Sammy, hands trembling.

“T-this... is not goods...” he mumbled and Sammy nodded, frowning.

“No. We need to investigate”

“Quickly”

 

“Awn fucking damn it!” Thomas growled as he tried to fix another pipe, the result being his face and overalls drenched in ink. “Why the heck has Mister Drew built these pipes?!”

“I wonder that all the time” Wally mumbled as he walked behind Thomas, scrubbing the floor and sighing deeply. “I have never worked so much for so little salary”

“No kidding” Thomas mumbled and grabbed another screw, trying to screw the pipes together to make the ink stop flowing. Soon, there was a pool of ink under him but the pipe was finally screwed together. “Finally!”

“I need more cloths...” Wally mumbled, sighing and holding up the drenched cloth he used to clean the floor. “I hate working here”

“Me too buddy” the repairman mumbled and then looked at Wally, smiling and slapping his shoulder gently. “But hey, think positive! Soon this crap place will be completely abandoned and we can move on! Now come on! We can grab some coffee upstairs!”

“Yeah” Wally said, a little more optimistic, walking after Thomas and leaving the pool of ink there on the floor. Both friends walked upstairs to the crew room, sitting down and grabbing some coffee. In one of the tables, Shawn seemed focused drawing on a Bendy plushie.

“Hey there Shawn” Wally said, smiling, and the painter looked up at him, giving him a grin.

“Heyya! How you boys doin’?” he asked, happily, and the two shrugged, making him laugh. “Yeh, tirin’ day, I agree” he said and looked back down at his plushie. “But good, in the end!”

“Yes, unless you are drenched in ink” Thomas mumbled and sighed, sipping on his coffee calmly. Shawn looked at him and shrugged while Wally chuckled.

 

“Sus-”

“Shut up”

Allison flinched at that, staring down at her feet while she thought of something to say.

“I’m so-”

“Shut up”

She sighed, looking at Susie. She was staring right into the wall, face mean and angry. 

Allison had never meant to get Susie’s part. Joey hadn’t even told her they already had someone else who had tried out. 

Besides, this whole ordeal was starting to scare her and she wanted out. She wouldn’t care less if Susie got the part for Alice.

Allison looked away towards the toys in the corner. She smiled, reaching for a Bendy toy and squeezing it, watching as it squeaked. At least she had some comfort in the toy department. It looked like the less scary part of that dark studio.

Probably because Shawn was a very nice guy and always made sure to make her smile with his jokes. 

She giggled softly as she thought of him, and then blushed, looking down again and biting her lip.

Next to her, Susie seemed apathetic.

She sighed.

 

This was worst than hell.

 

“Ten thousand, Joey?!” Grant screamed at the owner of the studio, eyes wide. “Are you crazy?! Completely mental?! We didn’t receive even the double of that money for our last cartoon, we have nothing guaranteed for the next month, and you want to spend all of that in a crazy project?!”

“Yes, of course” Joey said, smiling widely. “Henry prepared everything! All we need to do is build it up and we will be unstoppable!”

“Unstoppable because we will already be stopped!” Grant growled. “I am not allowing this, Joey! Henry was right, you are insane!”

“I am not” Joey growled back, suddenly becoming was darker and meaner than ever. Grant’s eyes widened and he stepped back. “If you don’t authorize this, I will close you in this place and you will never get out, I swear!”

“Joey... you are crazy...” he mumbled and Joey smirked, almost maniacally. 

“No... I am finally sane. And I see all, all possibilities and all paths. My mind is finally clear since that useless boy left. Now, I can achieve my full potential” he smirked and held Grant’s coat. “And you will help me!”

Grant swallowed thickly.

There was no way of saying no.

He was too crazy.

They were screwed.


	2. Chapter 2

Allison walked inside the toy department slowly, looking around and humming softly as she looked around at the wonderful plushies laying around. As she came closer to the toy machine, she stopped, looking from behind a wall carefully until she saw Shawn’s back as he leaned over the big Boris plushie, slowly painting his cheek.

She blushed and smiled as she watched, listening to him curse silently with his heavy Irish accent. She held back a giggle and stepped forward, as quietly as possible. However, as she put her foot down, she stepped right into those squeaking Bendy toys, making to do a soft sound that made Shawn scream and jump, holding the paint brush in front of him and ending up getting the floor and wall dirty.

“My goodness lass!” he said loudly, and she blushed deeply, looking down at her feet. “You scared me to death!”

“Well, you still look pretty alive” she said softly, looking up at him and tilting her head with a small, sweet smile. He raised his eyebrow at that and then leaned against his chair.

“Alright lass, what are ya doin here?” he asked, curious and suspicious as she shrugged, walking around the shelves and taking out one of Alice’s toys.

“I was bored... Sammy, Joey and Susie are in a meeting. I guess I will lose my part” she mumbled and shrugged again. “So I decided to come check the rest of the stuff we have here... maybe steal one or two toys”

“Steal ain’t nice, lassy” he chuckled and smirked as she shrugged once more, taking one of the Bendy plushies and squeezing it to get the squeaking sound. Shawn raised his eyebrow. “Those are the hard ones to make”

“Because they squeak?” she giggled and walked closer to him, sitting on a chair nearby. “I thought the bigger ones were harder”

“Nah, they just be annoyin’” he chuckled and tilted his head. “I think you will keep ya part, if ya ask me”

“I hope so... but at the same time, this studio gives me the creeps” she shivered and shook her head. “Sometimes I swear this ink pipes make sounds... as if there was someone in there, trapped. I have nightmares. It’s horrible”

Shawn hummed and nodded slowly before he smiled.

“Well, they said Mr. Drew is finally showing us his top secret project today! Maybe it will explain the need for so many levels and the pipes!” he said and took her hand, making Allison look up, blushing. “Don’t worry Lassy. I will protect you”

She gave him a shy smile and nodded.

 

“An elevator. An elevator!” Thomas growled, looking at Wally as they walked all the way downstairs. “Can you believe him?! An elevator?! In this shitty, wood constructed hallways?! This thing is bound t break!”

“I thought only huge companies had elevators...” Wally mumbled, dragging his equipment to wherever they were going. “And as much as I know, which isn’t muhc but still, we aren’t getting a lot of money...”

“At least Mr. Drew still has the decency to pay us every month. Even if I have no idea where that money is coming from” he said and opened a door on the last floor. He looked around the empty room. “Here we go”

“Where are we? I feel like we went down for half an hour” Wally mumbled, looking around and sitting on the floor. Thomas nodded.

“We have. This is level S, or at least that’s how Drew calls it. The last of the elevator’s levels” he sighed and frowned deeply. “He said he wants six levels. K, which is the toy department, II, P, 9 and 14. And S, of course. I really don’t know why”

“Weirdly specific. Just like everything Mr. Drew does” Wally mumbled and watched as Thomas started to work on the metals around the room. “How long do you think this will take?”

“Years” he groaned and Wally nodded.

“Well... good I brought coffee”

Thomas snorted.

 

“And how are our little projectors?”

“Well sir... ones of them isn’t working” Norman said, showing the projector next to his booth. Grant took a long, deep sigh, and nodded, taking notes.

“I don’t know why Joey wants so many projectors if we only have one cartoon to project” he mumbled and smiled at Norman. “Sorry Mr. Polk. Thank you”

“Um... sir” Norman mumbled and Grant raised an eyebrow. “I have heard... Mr. Drew is making a machines... Is that true?”

“Yes” he nodded and smiled. “He is planning to show to all the workers next month. I think you all will like it! It is a true masterpiece, if it works as he wants it to work”

“Oh...” the projectionist nodded and smiled back at Grant. The man smiled back and turned around, walking out of the booth and mumbling to himself about money and finances. Things Norman did not understand.

Norman turned back to his projector, the image of what he had seen with Sammy a few days ago never leaving his mind.

“I-is that... a pentagram?”

“Yes. Yes it is.”

“B-but Sam-Sammy this i-is devil t-things”

“I know... I don’t know what Drew is planning with this machine of his, but I don’t trust him. Not at all”

“S-Sammy... if h-he is me-messing with this st-stuff... I-I”

“Hey there Norm. Relax. Whatever he is planning, whatever he is thinking of doing, we won’t let him yeah? He won’t do any weird shit as long as I am around”

“...”

“Norman... You don’t have to be scared. Okay? We are friends, I will cover up for you”

“... Promise...?”

“Yes I promise. Now come on, you big slender baby, lets grab some coffee and take your mind out of it”

Norman frowned and looked deeply into the projected Bendy’s face. 

Suddenly, he blinked, eyes widening as he swore he had seen Bendy winking at him.

He looked away and closed his eyes, calming down his heartbeat by taking deep breaths.

He was going nuts. He needed some daylight. He needed some fresh air.

He would ask later to go out buy supplies with Sammy. 

Yes.

He will feel better going out of that studio for once.

 

“I am Alice!” Susie screamed, slamming her hand on the table, making Joey smile and Sammy roll his eyes. “I am Alice Angel! You said it yourself, Drew! You called me Alice!”

“I know, dear. I had planned for you to be our star! But... the crowd did not agree with me” Joey said slowly, grinning. She growled and turned to Sammy.

“You said I would be famous! Even more than Bendy himself!” she squealed out, and he rolled his eyes again.

“Yeah. I thought so. But apparently you suck” Sammy said and looked at her, not amused. “What am I doing here anyway? Why isn’t Cohen here?”

“Because you are our musical producer and I need your help to choose between Susie and Allison” Joey started but Susie growled, shaking her head.

“You won’t choose anyone! If she stays, I will stay too! I will show how better I can be!” she screamed and walked out, slamming the door. Sammy flinched and rolled his eyes.

“Oh my” he chuckled and looked at Joey. “What now, Mr. Drew?”

“Well...” he said and slowly joined his hands on the table. “I suppose we just... record both of them and leave both around”

“Wonderful idea sir” Sammy said and rolled his eyes. “Not like one could kill the other or anything. Allison is a sweetheart but Susie can be... quite the demon”

“You would surely know that, wouldn’t you?” Joey smirked and raised his eyebrow, making Sammy stare at him with his eyes a bit widened. “You should be more careful next time you use the recreation room for... pleasuring activities”

Sammy blushed from head to toe and crossed his arms. 

“Wally, that asshole” he growled and stood up quickly. “Anyway. I will be going now. I have music to compose. You better choose who will be your Alice, Drew, before things get heated”

Sammy walked out of the room without looking back, leaving a laughing Joey behind him.

Well, at least Joey thought it had been Susie. 

Not so bad.

It could be worst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave comments and kudos if you enjoyed!
> 
> (Also in case its unclear Norman and Sammy did stuff)

**Author's Note:**

> Leave comments and kudos if you enjoyed!


End file.
